Doug E. Fresh, MC Lyte, Big Daddy Kane, treach of naughty by nature, y Black Sheep

There's an argument to be made that Douglas E Davis is responsible for the term beatboxer becoming an expression at all. It was he who coined the nickname “The Original Human Beatbox” while he was making a name for himself as a rapper and performer around Harlem, and while others might have enjoyed more commercial success than him with their skills, they still own one hell of a debt to Doug E. Fresh. His first recorded appearance was on the Spoonie Gee and DJ Spivey single “Pass The Buddha”, and after that, his most notable early performance was with The Treacherous Three for their track “Beat Street”. This exposure meant that Fresh began building up some hype around himself, and began to release solo singles with the labels Enjoy and Vinetertainment.

By the end of 1985, Fresh was one of the biggest names in hip-hop with his group The Get Fresh Crew (which featured a young Slick Rick in its line up). He was having hits on both sides of the Atlantic with his single “The Show” hurtling into the top ten of the UK singles chart at number 7. By 1988, he had gone some way of earning the title he gave himself on his second solo album “The World's Greatest Entertainer”, which is a title he keeps to this very day. Remaining an influence even today, it was even Fresh's dance moves that inspired the Cali Swag District to record the smash hit single “Teach Me How To Dougie” in 2010, a good couple of decades after Fresh's last charting hit. Some talents never truly die, and as long as true hip-hop is still a cultural force, Doug E. Fresh will still be one of the men to thank for that. Highly recommended.

Never one to shy away from her musical ability, at the age of 17 Lyte began giving tips and teaching other MCs the best way to create rap and rhymes. She has been constantly developing and improving her own brand of hip hop and has released a total of ten albums to date.

Her debut 'Lyte as a Rock' was released in 1988 and charted at #50 on the US R & B Charts. She was the first solo female rapper to release a full album and it was a critical success, as well as featuring a #1 US Rap single 'Paper Thin'.

Since then she has had three more #1s on the US Rap chart and three top ten hits on the US R & B chart. The 1996 release 'Keep On, Keepin' On' also charted at #10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, Lyte's highest chart position to date. Her albums have enjoyed similar commercial success, all charting well on the US R & B Chart. 'Eyes On This' remains the peak at #8 upon its release in 1989.

Her services to female hip hop are considered immeasurable by many and she has received a number of prestigious honours from the industry over her career. In 2006 MC Lyte was included in a list of artists honoured on VH1's annual award show Hip Hop Honors. Whilst In 2013 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hip Hop Inaugural Ball, and she has been honoured by the BET awards who awarded her the "I Am Hip Hop" Icon Lifetime Achievement Award in the same year. She also became the first female solo rapper to be nominated for the Best Rap Single Grammy Award in 1993.

While every rapper who’s ever spit is in effect an artist who writes lyrics there are more than a few rappers who truly earn the term “lyricist”. In the same way that Nick Cave are Leonard Cohen are famous for their making their lyrics true poetry while Luke Pritchard of The Kooks is most definitely not, some rappers transcend pop music and create a poetry of their own. Right up there with the legends is Big Daddy Kane, a man rated by everyone from Kool Moe Dee to The RZA as one of the greatest ever. To the extent that there’s a persistent rumour that Rakim, widely thought to be the greatest rapper of the eighties, turned down the chance to take on Kane in a rap battle.

Kane’s first appearance in the spotlight was as part of the Juice Crew, a hip-hop collective based in Queensbridge, New York City. The crew had already been together since 1983 when Kane and his mate Biz Markie (“the human beatbox”) joined three years later. However it wasn’t until 1987, that his solo career really started to take off. He signed to Cold Chillin’ Records and his first single “Raw”, was a big hit in the underground scene, the year after his first record came out, and “Long Live The Kane” remains one of the benchmark rap debuts to this day.

It was ecstatically received at the time and was a mild commercial success as well. In a time when rap was only just proving itself to be more than a fad that was a lot to hope for, but the best was yet to come. 1989 was the same year that Markie had his massive (and utterly hysterical) hit “Just A Friend”, and Kane went on to release “It’s A Big Daddy Thing” a record that might not have been quite as succesful at the time, but it’s still considered to be one of the greatest rap records of all time, so y’know, swings and roundabouts.

Since then, his work has given way to a generation of MCs enamoured with his work, and was even one of Jay-Z’s early patrons, taking him on tour in the early 90’s. It’s a testament to his influence that he was able to stop making records in 1998 and to this day his name is still spoken with respect and admiration. He can also still put on a show to remember and his records, even the ones released nearly three decades ago, hold up against anything released today. For that reason alone it’s a pleasure and a privilege to still have him around. Highly recommended.

Both members of Black Sheep hail from New York, but they actually met quite a way away, in Stanford, North Carolina - both of their families had moved there. They formed their group in 1989, and it didn’t take too long for them to meet with genuine success - their first album, ‘A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’, dropped in October of 1991, and eventually went gold in their native U.S. after hitting number thirty on the Billboard chart. The record also earned them the honour of being the first hip hop act to appear on The Tonight Show since the departure of Johnny Carson, and his replacement with Jay Leno.

Their second full-length record, ‘Non-Fiction’, didn’t quite meet with the same level of commercial success, perhaps owing to the lack of big-hitting singles like ‘Flavor of the Month’ and ‘The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)’. Nevertheless, Black Sheep remained revered in the hip hop world, and continued to tour sporadically until their initial dissolution in 1995. They reformed in 2000, and have put out two records since - ‘8VM/Novakane’ in October 2006, and ‘From the Black Pool of Genius’ - ostensibly a solo effort from Dres - in 2010. Live performances are currently occasional, but remain well-received.